love and listings
by kurusui
Summary: thirty ways and more to love. — 30 sentences challenge — gray/lucy
1. Chapter 1

a/n: Inspired by the countless Zoro/Nami fics of this style and not finding any (or remembering any?) written for graylu, I decided to do a 30 sentence challenge to practice writing, as I'm unable to get motivated to work on my au fic. (It's about half done, I think, and it's gonna be ~6k... but I'm the most uncommitted writer you'll ever meet.) I think the biggest challenge was choosing the prompts. =w= This is largely unedited so please don't mind errors too much! (psst, i'll write more of these if there are actually people interested... they aren't that good but they're just practice ;w;)

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1. experiment

natsu's plan is completely convincing and they sneak up on lucy without a sound, but she turns around with such a murderous look on her face that gray swears he'll never listen to natsu again.

2. legend

she tells him excitedly about the story behind a job she wants to take, and while he's sure it's just a fairy tale he allows her to drag him out of the guild with a smile on his face.

3. blank

lucy will never ask mirajane for suggestions for her novel ever again, having listened to her and levy have a lengthy and embarrassing conversation about how similar the main love interest was to a certain ice mage.

4. amateur

"luce, you're absolutely no good at video games. don't tell me you lied in order to catch my interest?"

5. torture

she waited impatiently and nervously outside the tent for the news about how bad his injuries were, and cursed her inability to defend herself in the most crucial moment of the battle.

6. river

it's really pretty, he thinks, especially as it reflects the moonlight, but there's nothing that will ever be more beautiful to him than the celestial mage standing beside him.

7. fog

the road was hard to see, and with every bump erza went over, the car jumped and he was squished closer to lucy than he was comfortable with.

8. drunk

she stumbled along the path, completely ignoring the fishermen warning her to watch her step, and would have splashed into the icy winter current had he not been there to save her.

9. fan

she's hurt that no one came to interview her, and he wishes he was brave enough to tell her that he was her number one fan.

10. bargain

"lucy, are you seriously telling me to strip off my shirt and go seduce that salesgirl just so you can get a discount on your shopping, like hell i'll do that!"

11. expressive

she's definitely considered one of the more photogenic people in the guild, seeing as one of her smiles makes more than just a few guys swoon.

12. disbelief

lucy's utterly shocked that he could break into her house without her noticing and cook her a nice breakfast but not resist stripping, even thought was her birthday— but then again, she wouldn't have it any other way.

13. cream

she's assisting mirajane during one of their ice cream sundae parties, and when the bar maid turns away, she takes the opportunity to add a little extra whipped cream to his bowl.

14. cook

he knew there was a reason that she always insisted on eating dinner before going to her house.

15. sunrise

the sun rises just as they fall asleep, curled up together under a blanket on the hill.

16. fortune

her fortune reads "unlucky day" the morning that gray accidentally takes a mission with her "love rival".

17. harmony

her singing isn't as atrocious as natsu made it sound, and he chokes when erza comments that his voice sounds well with hers.

18. protest

no matter how much she insists that their relationship isn't what everyone seems to think it is, there's no way her friends will believe a word of it, and she starts to wonder if there's a bit of truth to their words.

19. lover

the magazines are a nasty way to find out the people you trust aren't being as honest to you as you are to them.

20. gossip

the whispers circulate but he's glad to know that this time, they aren't true.

21. bright

the lights turn on and the smile on erza's face as she sees the surprise party lucy and gray set up made it more than worth the effort.

22. guide

the ledge is skinny and threatens to crumble at any moment, but the security of his hand holding hers takes away her fears.

23. flirt

he shouldn't have been as jealous as he was, but when she finally offers to dance with him he can't say no.

24. spotlight

the entire guild turns to look at her the moment that gray says the words "engagement".

25. injury

he spoils her, really— was it necessary for her to ride on his back when all she had was a sprained ankle?

26. schedule

it's hard for them to meet because of part-time jobs and extra classes, but he makes sure to clear up his schedule whenever she calls.

27. conquest

she treats love like a game sometimes, but he refuses to be just another prize to be won.

28. frame

the glass shines as she hangs the large wedding picture over their new bed.

29. toast

sometimes he wishes she would pay more attention to the kitchen than his hair, considering that was the third piece of toast she burnt that morning because she was preoccupied with him.

30. research

she stares incredulously when erza tells her about gray's strangest habits but knows nothing can really be more surprising than the fact that he fell in love with her.


	2. all around me

a/n: for julia. before i start, please let me apologize for turning half of this into angst fic. okay, i hope this doesn't disappoint (too much...).

anyway, i guess you don't care, but i still have made 0 progress on that au fic since last time, or any other fic, for that matter.

some of these are awkward and some of these are vague but most of them are angsty; i've yet to find the perfect balance between the two, and it's honestly too much work to edit practice writing. :x

* * *

1— feelings.

she is not ready to admit to herself that she might feel stronger for him than friendship should be.

2— scream.

it takes her a second to figure out the voice that was screaming was not hers but his, and the body that was just hit was not his but hers.

3— challenge.

lucy wondered sometimes if it wasn't her right to tell juvia off whenever the water mage accused her of doing something with gray she didn't do.

4— royalty.

maybe sometimes she deserves to be treated like a queen, and maybe in return there would be sacrifices she'd have to make.

5— speechless.

it was gray who was surprised when he found out lucy had known all along about his plans and kept quiet the entire time, laughing while she told him the story.

6— saving.

it should not always be him doing the saving, she said to herself, as she ordered her spirits to free his chains.

7— entertainment.

making gemini reveal his embarrassing secrets in front of the entire guild was one of her favorite pastimes, definitely.

8— greedy.

is it really so bad to want what you can't have?

9— freedom.

he smiled to himself in the small, subtle way no one noticed when she set herself free from her father and her past; the same way she wished he could when there was a mention of his.

10— shining.

the things he liked about her were stupidly lovable, he decided, especially her mischievous eyes when they planned on pushing the cost of a shopping spree on an unsuspecting boyfriend.

11— flicker.

fireflies are prettiest when seen with the people you love.

12— unknown.

but when natsu made her laugh from across the room he cursed himself for losing a chance to say how he felt, and all the chances he had lost because he was afraid of what he didn't know.

13— background.

in novels the main characters are always the ones who get together, and as he glanced at her manuscript he wondered if he was even a part of her story.

14— invisible.

what he'd give to be a fly on the wall of her heart and hear the thoughts she'd never say out loud, she would never know.

15— tied.

her scarf was bundled around her neck too tightly, and she recoiled at his frozen touch.

16— cold.

he refused to talk to her, and she felt herself holding back tears, clenching her fists, hating herself for every word she said that she could never take back.

17— layers.

there are layers of someone's personality you uncover every time you speak to them, and for all the time he was with her he didn't believe he would figure them all out.

18— ring.

she misunderstood the ring in his hand and panicked, telling erza she was feeling sick in a completely unconvincing tone.

19— frayed.

the stress piled up on her until her nerves felt like they were about to split, but she made a promise to him that she'd be fine alone, and she was determined to prove she was capable of handling the situation herself.

20— open.

her door was open and she could have been inviting him in but as opposed to all those times he barged in without permission this time felt different, as if he would be intruding; it was an uncomfortable and unwanted feeling.

21— irritate.

the way she said that boy's name made him angry in an irrational sort of way, like he owned her and she was cheating on someone she wasn't even dating, and knowing it was wrong just made him feel worse.

22— comforting.

it hurt that the times she actually cared about him were the ones where he was feeling too shitty to appreciate it.

23— shadow.

she smiled at his failed attempts to create shadow puppets with his fingers and insisted she thought he was cute anyway.

24— constant.

everything changes over time but some things stay the same, one such thing being their routine of splitting whatever was left of the mission reward after damage reductions on two cones of creamy vanilla ice cream.

25— dream.

she thinks of him in her daydream fantasies, wondering if he would ever dare to call her cute to her face.

26— code.

"hey graaaaay, i'm really cold" was just her code for "let me wear your jacket or i'll make loke take it from you" but it was okay because he was more than willing to give it to her.

27— equal.

she said it was only fair if they took turns paying but he had a sneaking suspicion she made sure it was his turn on the expensive dates.

28— thirst.

freshly squeezed lemonade was her favorite drink to make him on vacations to the beach.

29— missing.

one of her keys went missing and she spent at least 20 minutes rummaging through her bag before realizing she lent it to him and he promised to return it the other day, that jerk!

30— fake.

it was silly to think that they could pretend to not be together when every word they said to each other was transparent as hell: "hey do you want to go out for coffee- uh, as friends?"

* * *

a/n: ...i reread what i have of my au fic and pardon me for saying this but i _really_ want people to read it. because graylu angst_. i love graylu angst _more than fluff tbh and so i will proceed to work on it after this /sobs

it's hard for me to write fluff because my graylu headcanon is either 1) friendship or 2) angst. ;_;

i think my favs this time are 12 and 17. overall, i'm still not really pleased, but yeah, practice writing. i love how i always finish at like 1am.


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